Techniques for wireless network discovery and selection support

ABSTRACT

Techniques for wireless network discovery and selection support are described. In one embodiment, for example, an evolved packet core (EPC) node may comprise a processor circuit to implement an access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) according to a management object that includes a branch comprising one or more policies to select a wireless local area network (WLAN), the processing circuitry to receive capabilities information and location information for a user equipment (UE) and determine access network information for the UE based on the capabilities information and the location information. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

RELATED CASE

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/806,821, filed Mar. 29, 2013 and U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/841,230, filed Jun. 28, 2013, the entireties of bothof which are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein generally relate to communications between devices inbroadband wireless communications networks.

BACKGROUND

In a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) wireless network such asan evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrialradio access network (E-UTRAN), an access network discovery andselection function (ANDSF) server may be implemented in order to assistuser equipment (UEs) in discovering and selecting among available accessnetworks. The ANDSF server may implement an ANDSF management object (MO)and generate access network information for UEs using the ANDSF MO. Acommon scenario faced by typical UEs may involve selecting among and/orbetween 3GPP access networks and wireless local area networks (WLANs).As such, it may be desirable that the ANDSF MO comprise a structuredesigned to yield access network information that supports moreefficient WLAN selection and/or utilization by UEs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of an operating environment.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a first apparatus and an embodimentof a first system.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a management object.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a first management object branch.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a second management object branch.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a second apparatus and an embodimentof a second system.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a first logic flow.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a second logic flow.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a storage medium.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment a device.

FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless network.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments may be generally directed to techniques for wirelessnetwork discovery and selection support. In one embodiment, for example,an evolved packet core (EPC) node may comprise a processor circuit toimplement an access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF)according to a management object that includes a branch comprising oneor more policies to select a wireless local area network (WLAN), theprocessing circuitry to receive capabilities information and locationinformation for a user equipment (UE) and determine access networkinformation for the UE based on the capabilities information and thelocation information. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Various embodiments may comprise one or more elements. An element maycomprise any structure arranged to perform certain operations. Eachelement may be implemented as hardware, software, or any combinationthereof, as desired for a given set of design parameters or performanceconstraints. Although an embodiment may be described with a limitednumber of elements in a certain topology by way of example, theembodiment may include more or less elements in alternate topologies asdesired for a given implementation. It is worthy to note that anyreference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances ofthe phrases “in one embodiment,” “in some embodiments,” and “in variousembodiments” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment.

The techniques disclosed herein may involve transmission of data overone or more wireless connections using one or more wireless mobilebroadband technologies. For example, various embodiments may involvetransmissions over one or more wireless connections according to one ormore 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), 3GPP Long Term Evolution(LTE), and/or 3GPP LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) technologies and/or standards,including their revisions, progeny and variants. Various embodiments mayadditionally or alternatively involve transmissions according to one ormore Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)/Enhanced Data Ratesfor GSM Evolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS)/High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), and/or GSM with General PacketRadio Service (GPRS) system (GSM/GPRS) technologies and/or standards,including their revisions, progeny and variants.

Examples of wireless mobile broadband technologies and/or standards mayalso include, without limitation, any of the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 wireless broadband standards such asIEEE 802.16m and/or 802.16p, International Mobile TelecommunicationsAdvanced (IMT-ADV), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX) and/or WiMAX II, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000(e.g., CDMA2000 1xRTT, CDMA2000 EV-DO, CDMA EV-DV, and so forth), HighPerformance Radio Metropolitan Area Network (HIPERMAN), WirelessBroadband (WiBro), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High SpeedOrthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Packet Access (HSOPA),High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) technologies and/or standards,including their revisions, progeny and variants.

Some embodiments may additionally or alternatively involve wirelesscommunications according to other wireless communications technologiesand/or standards. Examples of other wireless communications technologiesand/or standards that may be used in various embodiments may include,without limitation, other IEEE wireless communication standards such asthe IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n,IEEE 802.11u, IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11ad, IEEE 802.11af, and/or IEEE802.11ah standards, High-Efficiency Wi-Fi standards developed by theIEEE 802.11 High Efficiency WLAN (HEW) Study Group, Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA)wireless communication standards such as Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-FiDirect Services, Wireless Gigabit (WiGig), WiGig Display Extension(WDE), WiGig Bus Extension (WBE), WiGig Serial Extension (WSE) standardsand/or standards developed by the WFA Neighbor Awareness Networking(NAN) Task Group, machine-type communications (MTC) standards such asthose embodied in 3GPP Technical Report (TR) 23.887, 3GPP TechnicalSpecification (TS) 22.368, and/or 3GPP TS 23.682, LTE-Unlicensedstandards, and/or near-field communication (NFC) standards such asstandards developed by the NFC Forum, including any revisions, progeny,and/or variants of any of the above. The embodiments are not limited tothese examples.

In addition to transmission over one or more wireless connections, thetechniques disclosed herein may involve transmission of content over oneor more wired connections through one or more wired communicationsmedia. Examples of wired communications media may include a wire, cable,metal leads, printed circuit board (PCB), backplane, switch fabric,semiconductor material, twisted-pair wire, co-axial cable, fiber optics,and so forth. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

FIG. 1 illustrates an operating environment 100 such as may berepresentative of some embodiments. In operating environment 100, a UE102 is located in a region of overlap between a coverage area 104 of aneNB 106 and a coverage area 108 of an wireless access point (AP) 110. UE102 may comprise a dual-mode UE that is capable, of communicating withboth a 3GPP access network, such as an evolved UMTS terrestrial radioaccess network (E-UTRAN), and a non-3GPP access network, such as a Wi-Fiaccess network. Via an E-UTRAN of eNB 106, UE 102 may be capable ofcommunicating with an evolved packet core (EPC), through which it mayobtain connectivity with a packet data network (PDN) such as theInternet. UE 102 may also be capable of obtaining connectivity to thatsame PDN through a Wi-Fi access network of AP 110.

In order to obtain information for use in discovering an access networkvia which to connect to the Internet or another PDN, UE 102 maycommunicate with an access network discovery and selection function(ANDSF) server 112 over an S14 interface connection 114. The ANDSFserver 112 may provide UE 102 with access network information 116 thatidentifies available access networks in the vicinity of UE 102 and/orprovides one or more rules, policies, or criteria for UE 102 to applywhen selecting among available access networks. The embodiments are notlimited in this context.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 200 such as may berepresentative of ANDSF server 112 of FIG. 1 in various embodiments. Asshown in FIG. 2, apparatus 200 comprises multiple elements including aprocessor circuit 202, a memory unit 204, a communications component206, and an ANDSF component 208. The embodiments, however, are notlimited to the type, number, or arrangement of elements shown in thisfigure.

In some embodiments, apparatus 200 may comprise processor circuit 202.Processor circuit 202 may be implemented using any processor or logicdevice, such as a complex instruction set computer (CISC)microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computing (RISC)microprocessor, a very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, anx86 instruction set compatible processor, a processor implementing acombination of instruction sets, a multi-core processor such as adual-core processor or dual-core mobile processor, or any othermicroprocessor or central processing unit (CPU). Processor circuit 202may also be implemented as a dedicated processor, such as a controller,a microcontroller, an embedded processor, a chip multiprocessor (CMP), aco-processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a network processor, amedia processor, an input/output (I/O) processor, a media access control(MAC) processor, a radio baseband processor, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), aprogrammable logic device (PLD), and so forth. In one embodiment, forexample, processor circuit 202 may be implemented as a general purposeprocessor, such as a processor made by Intel® Corporation, Santa Clara,Calif. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, apparatus 200 may comprise or be arranged tocommunicatively couple with a memory unit 204. Memory unit 204 may beimplemented using any machine-readable or computer-readable mediacapable of storing data, including both volatile and non-volatilememory. For example, memory unit 204 may include read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM(DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), programmable ROM(PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymer memory such asferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase change orferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, magnetic or optical cards, or any other type of media suitablefor storing information. It is worthy of note that some portion or allof memory unit 204 may be included on the same integrated circuit asprocessor circuit 202, or alternatively some portion or all of memoryunit 204 may be disposed on an integrated circuit or other medium, forexample a hard disk drive, that is external to the integrated circuit ofprocessor circuit 202. Although memory unit 204 is comprised withinapparatus 200 in FIG. 2, memory unit 204 may be external to apparatus200 in some embodiments. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

In various embodiments, apparatus 200 may comprise a communicationscomponent 206. Communications component 206 may comprise logic,circuitry, and/or instructions operative to send messages to one or moreremote devices and/or to receive messages from one or more remotedevices. In some embodiments, communications component 206 may beoperative to send and/or receive messages over one or more wiredconnections, one or more wireless connections, or a combination of both.In various embodiments, communications component 206 may additionallycomprise logic, circuitry, and/or instructions operative to performvarious operations in support of such communications. Examples of suchoperations may include selection of transmission and/or receptionparameters and/or timing, packet and/or protocol data unit (PDU)construction and/or deconstruction, encoding and/or decoding, errordetection, and/or error correction. The embodiments are not limited tothese examples.

In some embodiments, apparatus 200 may comprise a ANDSF component 208.ANDSF component 208 may comprise logic, circuitry, and/or instructionsoperative to perform operations to support wireless network discoveryand selection on the part of one or more remote devices. In variousembodiments, ANDSF component 208 may be operative to generate accessnetwork information for use by remote devices in selecting accessnetworks via which to obtain connectivity to PDNs such as the Internet.The embodiments are not limited in this context.

FIG. 2 also illustrates a block diagram of a system 240. System 240 maycomprise any of the aforementioned elements of apparatus 200. System 240may further comprise a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 242. RFtransceiver 242 may comprise one or more radios capable of transmittingand receiving signals using various suitable wireless communicationstechniques. Such techniques may involve communications across one ormore wireless networks. Exemplary wireless networks include (but are notlimited to) cellular radio access networks, wireless local area networks(WLANs), wireless personal area networks (WPANs), wireless metropolitanarea network (WMANs), and satellite networks. In communicating acrosssuch networks, RF transceiver 242 may operate in accordance with one ormore applicable standards in any version. The embodiments are notlimited in this context.

In some embodiments, system 240 may comprise one or more RF antennas244. Examples of any particular RF antenna 244 may include, withoutlimitation, an internal antenna, an omni-directional antenna, a monopoleantenna, a dipole antenna, an end-fed antenna, a circularly polarizedantenna, a micro-strip antenna, a diversity antenna, a dual antenna, atri-band antenna, a quad-band antenna, and so forth. In variousembodiments, RF transceiver 242 may be operative to send and/or receivemessages and/or data using one or more RF antennas 244. The embodimentsare not limited in this context.

In some embodiments, during operation of apparatus 200 and/or system240, communications component 206 may be operative to receive an accessnetwork information request 210 from a UE 250. In various embodiments,access network information request 210 may comprise a request forinformation that is usable by UE 250 to select an access network viawhich to obtain connectivity to a PDN such as the Internet. In someembodiments, the UE 250 may comprise a dual-mode UE that is capable ofcommunicating with both a 3GPP access network, such as an E-UTRAN, and anon-3GPP access network, such as a Wi-Fi access network. In variousembodiments, the UE 250 may be located in a region of overlappingcoverage of multiple access networks, such as a region in which in whichcoverage of an E-UTRAN overlaps with coverage of a Wi-Fi access network.In some embodiments, apparatus 200 and/or system 240 may be operative tocommunicate with UE 250 via an internet protocol (IP)-layer interface.For example, in various embodiments, apparatus 200 and/or system 240 maybe operative to communicate with UE 250 over an S14 interface connection212. In some such embodiments, communications component 206 may beoperative to receive access network information request 210 via the S14interface connection. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, access network information request 210 maycomprise capabilities information 214. Capabilities information 214 maycomprise information describing wireless network access capabilities ofUE 250. In some embodiments, capabilities information 214 may identifyone or more types of wireless access networks and/or access technologiesthat UE 250 is capable of using. In various embodiments, capabilitiesinformation 214 may indicate that UE 250 is capable of communicatingwith both a 3GPP access network, such as an E-UTRAN, and a non-3GPPaccess network, such as a Wi-Fi access network. The embodiments are notlimited to this example.

In some embodiments, access network information request 210 may compriselocation information 216. Location information 216 may compriseinformation identifying or describing an approximate location of UE 250.In various embodiments, location information 216 may identify anapproximate geographical location of UE 250. In some embodiments, forexample, location information 216 may comprise global positioning system(GPS) coordinates for UE 250. In various embodiments, locationinformation 216 may additionally or alternatively comprise a cellidentifier (ID) that identifies a cell in which UE 250 is currentlylocated. In some embodiments, location information 216 may additionallyor alternatively comprise a tracking area identity (TAI) that identifiesa tracking area in which UE 250 is currently located. The embodimentsare not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, based on the access network information request210, ANDSF component 208 may be operative to generate access networkinformation 218. Access network information 218 may generally compriseinformation that is usable by UE 250 to select an access network viawhich to obtain connectivity to a PDN such as the Internet. In someembodiments, ANDSF component 208 may be operative to generate accessnetwork information 218 based on capabilities information 214 and/orlocation information 216 provided in the access network informationrequest 210. In various embodiments, access network information 218 maycomprise available network information 220. Available networkinformation 220 may comprise information identifying one or more accessnetworks via which UE 250 may obtain PDN connectivity. In someembodiments, access network information 218 may comprise mobility policyinformation 222. Mobility policy information 222 may compriseinformation identifying, defining, describing, and/or updating rulesand/or preferences to be applied by UE 250 in selecting from amongaccess networks identified by available network information 220. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, ANDSF component 208 may be operative to generateaccess network information 218 based on an ANDSF management object 224.ANDSF management object 224 may comprise an object via which ANDSFcomponent 208 manages, tracks, defines, identifies, modifies, updates,and/or controls features, capabilities, functions, operations,properties, and/or characteristics of UE 250. In some embodiments, ANDSFmanagement object 224 may comprise a management object that iscompatible with the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Device Management (DM)protocol specifications, versions 1.2 and later. In various embodiments,ANDSF management object 224 may be defined using the OMA DM DeviceDescription Framework (DDF). The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

In some embodiments, ANDSF management object 224 may comprise a treestructure in which a plurality of top-level branches extend from a rootnode to a plurality of top-level nodes. In various embodiments, one ormore top-level leaves may also extend from the root node. In someembodiments, from a given top-level node, one or more lower-levelbranches may extend to one or more respective lower-level nodes. Invarious embodiments, one or more lower-level leaves may extend from agiven top-level node. In some embodiments, additional lower-levelbranches and/or leaves may extend from one or more respectivelower-level nodes. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, ANDSF management object 224 may comprise anenhanced structure designed to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and/orreliability with which ANDSF component 208 generates access networkinformation 218 and/or with which remote devices such as UE 250 are ableto utilize access network information 218 to perform access networkselections. More particularly, in some embodiments, ANDSF managementobject 224 may comprise an enhanced structure that supports moreefficient WLAN selection and/or utilization on the part of remotedevices such as UE 250. In various embodiments, according to theenhanced structure, ANDSF management object 224 may comprise a WLANselection policies (WLANSP) branch 226. In some such embodiments, theWLANSP branch 226 may be comprised among the top-level branches of ANDSFmanagement object 224. In various other embodiments, the WLANSP branch226 may comprise a lower-level branch. The embodiments are not limitedin this context.

In some embodiments, the enhanced structure of ANDSF management object224 may include one or more nodes 228 of a Hotspot 2.0 management object(MO). In various embodiments, the enhanced structure may include someHotspot 2.0 MO nodes and/or branches and exclude some other Hotspot 2.0MO nodes and/or branches. In some embodiments, the enhanced structure ofANDSF management object 224 may include Hotspot 2.0 MO nodes and/orbranches that are relevant for UE WLAN selection and exclude Hotspot 2.0MO nodes and/or branches that are not relevant for UE WLAN selection. Invarious embodiments, the included Hotspot 2.0 MO nodes 228 may becomprised in the WLANSP branch 226 within the enhanced structure ofANDSF management object 224. In some embodiments, one or more includedHotspot 2.0 MO nodes 228 may comprise nodes at a top level of the WLANSPbranch 226. In various embodiments, one or more included Hotspot 2.0 MOnodes 228 may comprise nodes at lower levels within the WLANSP branch226. For example, in some embodiments, the WLANSP branch 226 may includea designated sub-branch for the inclusion of one or more Hotspot 2.0 MOnodes defining criteria for use as criteria in WLAN selection. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

FIG. 3 illustrates a management object 300 such as may be representativeof ANDSF management object 224 of FIG. 2 in various embodiments. Moreparticularly, FIG. 3 illustrates a root node, a top-level leaf, and aplurality of top-level nodes of the example management object 300. Asshown in FIG. 3, management object 300 includes an ANDSF node 302, whichmay comprise root node for management object 300. Extending from ANDSFnode 302 is a Name leaf 304, which may comprise a name for thecollection of ANDSF settings represented by management object 300. Alsoextending from ANDSF node 302 are an inter-system mobility policy (ISMP)node 306, an inter-system routing policy (ISRP) node 308, a preferredservice provider list (PSPL) node 310, a PreferVplmnWlans node 312, ahome public land mobile network (HPLMN) preference node 314, and aWLANSP node 316. It is worthy of note that in some embodiments, theremay be other top-level leaves and/or nodes that extend from ANDSF node302. Additionally or alternatively, in various embodiments, managementobject 300 may not comprise one or more of Name leaf 304, ISMP node 306,ISRP node 308, PSPL node 310, PreferVplmnWlans node 312, HPLMNpreference node 314, and WLANSP node 316. The embodiments are notlimited in this context.

In some embodiments, ISMP node 306 may define an ISMP branch ofmanagement object 300 that comprises one or more ISMP rules. In variousembodiments, management object 300 may comprise an enhanced structureaccording to which an AccessId leaf and a SecondaryAccessId leaf areomitted from a PrioritizedAccess node comprised in the ISMP branch. Insome embodiments, ISRP node 308 may define an ISRP branch of managementobject 300 that comprises one or more ISRP rules. In variousembodiments, management object 300 may comprise an enhanced structureaccording to which an AccessId leaf and a SecondaryAccessId leaf areomitted from a RoutingRule node comprised in the ISRP branch. In someembodiments, PSPL node 310 may define a PSPL branch of management object300 that comprises a list of home operator-preferred service providers.In various embodiments, PreferVplmnWlans node 312 may define aPreferVplmnWlans branch comprising one or more rules for determiningwhether visited public land mobile network (VPLMN)-provided WLANs are tobe preferred. In various embodiments, HPLMN preference node 314 maydefine an HPLMN branch comprising one or more rules for theestablishment of PDN connections over WLAN access networks usingapplicable S2a and/or S2b procedures. In some embodiments, WLANSP node316 may define a WLANSP branch, such as may comprise an example ofWLANSP branch 226 of FIG. 2. In various embodiments, the WLANSP branchmay comprise one or more lists of preferred WLANs. In some embodiments,each such list may comprise a different priority, be applicable to adifferent priority area, and/or be applicable during a different time ofday. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

FIG. 4 illustrates a management object branch 400 such as may berepresentative of an HPLMN branch defined by HPLMN node 314 of FIG. 3 invarious embodiments. As shown in FIG. 4, management object branch 400may comprise an <X+> node 402 that extends from HPLMN preference node314. <X+> node 402 may signify that one or more HPLMN preference rulesmay be defined according to management object branch 400, each such rulecomprising a corresponding set of parameters defined by the variousnodes and/or leaves that extend from the <X+> node 402. The nodes andleaves that extend from <X+> node 402 may include a RulePriority leaf404, an S2aConnectivityPreference leaf 406, an S2bConnectivityPreferenceleaf 408, a ValidityArea node 410, a Roaming leaf 412, a PLMN leaf 414,a TimeOfDay node 416, and an UpdatePolicy leaf 418. It is worthy of notethat in some embodiments, there may be other nodes and/or leaves thatextend from <X+> node 402. Additionally or alternatively, in variousembodiments, management object branch 400 may not comprise one or moreof RulePriority leaf 404, S2aConnectivityPreference leaf 406,S2bConnectivityPreference leaf 408, ValidityArea node 410, Roaming leaf412, PLMN leaf 414, TimeOfDay node 416, and UpdatePolicy leaf 418. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, RulePriority leaf 420 may comprise a valueindicating a relative priority for a rule defined according tomanagement object branch 400. In some embodiments,S2aConnectivityPreference leaf 406 may comprise an indication of whethera home operator prefers that a UE use S2a procedures to establish a PDNconnection over a WLAN access network. In various embodiments,S2bConnectivityPreference leaf 408 may comprise an indication of whethera home operator prefers that a UE use S2b procedures to establish a PDNconnection over a WLAN access network. In some embodiments, ValidityAreanode 410 may define a ValidityArea sub-branch of management objectbranch 400 that comprises one or more location conditions for an HPLMNpreference rule defined by management object branch 400. In variousembodiments, Roaming leaf 412 may comprise an indication of whether arule defined according to management object branch 400 is valid when aUE is roaming. In some embodiments, PLMN leaf 414 may identify a PLMN towhich an HPLMN preference rule defined by management object branch 400applies. In various embodiments, TimeOfDay node 416 may define aTimeOfDay sub-branch of management object branch 400 that comprises oneor more time of day conditions for an HPLMN preference rule defined bymanagement object branch 400. In some embodiments, UpdatePolicy leaf 418may comprise an indication of whether an update is to be requested for arule defined according to management object branch 400 when the rule isno longer considered valid.

In some embodiments, ValidityArea node 410, Roaming leaf 412, PLMN leaf414, and TimeOfDay node 416 may collectively comprise a set of validitycriteria for an HPLMN preference rule defined by management objectbranch 400. In various embodiments, such a rule may apply only undercircumstances that match that set of validity criteria. In someembodiments, if none of the leaves and nodes in the set of validitycriteria are included, then an HPLMN preference rule may be consideredto be valid. In various embodiments, there may be multiple HPLMNpreference rules defined for a given UE according to management objectbranch 400. In some embodiments, at a particular point in time, morethan one of those rules may be valid. In various embodiments, an ANDSFserver such as ANDSF server 112 of FIG. 1 may implement a rule accordingto which at most one HPLMN preference rule may be active for a given UEat a given point in time. In some embodiments, when multiple HPLMNpreference rules are valid for a particular UE, an active HPLMNpreference rule for the UE may be selected based on the respective rulepriorities for the multiple HPLMN preference rules, which may becomprised in their respective RulePriority leaves 404. In variousembodiments, a visited ANDSF (V-ANDSF) server may refrain from providingHPLMN preference rules to roaming UEs. The embodiments are not limitedin this context.

FIG. 5 illustrates a management object branch 500 such as may berepresentative of WLANSP branch 226 of FIG. 2 and/or a WLANSP branchdefined by WLANSP node 316 of FIG. 3 in various embodiments. As shown inFIG. 5, management object branch 500 may comprise an <X+> node 502 thatextends from WLANSP node 316. <X+> node 502 may signify that one or moreWLANSP rules may be defined according to management object branch 500,each such rule comprising a corresponding set of parameters defined bythe various nodes and/or leaves that extend from the <X+> node 502. Thenodes that extend from <X+> node 502 may include a ValidityArea node504, a TimeOfDay node 506, an HS2.0 Policy node 508, and a HomeSP node510. It is worthy of note that in some embodiments, there may be othernodes and/or leaves that extend from <X+> node 502. Additionally oralternatively, in various embodiments, management object branch 500 maynot comprise one or more of ValidityArea node 504, TimeOfDay node 506,HS2.0 Policy node 508, and HomeSP node 510. The embodiments are notlimited in this context.

In some embodiments, ValidityArea node 504 may define a ValidityAreasub-branch of management object branch 500 that comprises one or morelocation conditions for a WLANSP rule defined by management objectbranch 500. In various embodiments, TimeOfDay node 506 may define aTimeOfDay sub-branch of management object branch 500 that comprises oneor more time of day conditions for a WLANSP rule defined by managementobject branch 500. In some embodiments, HS2.0 Policy node 508 may definean HS2.0 Policy sub-branch of management object branch 500 thatcomprises one or more selection criteria for selecting WLAN accessnetworks. In various embodiments, HomeSP node 510 may define a HomeSPsub-branch of management object branch 500 that comprises home serviceprovider information. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In some embodiments, HS2.0 Policy node 508 may define an HS2.0 Policysub-branch that comprises a PreferredRoamingPartnerList node 512, anSPExclusionList node 514, a RequiredProtoPortTuple node 516, aMinBackhaulThreshold node 518, and a MaxBSSLoadValue leaf 520. It isworthy of note that in various embodiments, the HS2.0 Policy sub-branchmay comprise other nodes and/or leaves. Additionally or alternatively,in some embodiments, the HS2.0 Policy sub-branch may not comprise one ormore of PreferredRoamingPartnerList node 512, SPExclusionList node 514,RequiredProtoPortTuple node 516, MinBackhaulThreshold node 518, andMaxBSSLoadValue leaf 520. Further, although it is not depicted in FIG.5, in various embodiments an <X+> node may extend from HS2.0 Policy node508, and one or more of PreferredRoamingPartnerList node 512,SPExclusionList node 514, RequiredProtoPortTuple node 516,MinBackhaulThreshold node 518, and MaxBSSLoadValue leaf 520 may extendfrom the <X+> node. In some such embodiments, the <X+> node may signifythat one or more WLAN selection criteria may be defined according to theHS2.0 Policy sub-branch, each such selection criteria comprising acorresponding set of parameters defined by the various nodes and/orleaves that extend from the <X+> node. The embodiments are not limitedin this context.

In various embodiments, the HS2.0 Policy sub-branch may comprisePreferredRoamingPartnerList node 512. In some embodiments,PreferredRoamingPartnerList node 512 may comprise a list of preferredroaming partners for use by a UE to obtain PDN connectivity whileroaming. In various embodiments, the PreferredRoamingPartnerList node512 may define a sub-branch that identifies, for each preferred roamingpartner, a corresponding fully qualified domain name (FQDN) and/orcountry code. In some embodiments, PreferredRoamingPartnerList node 512may be the same as or similar to a PreferredRoamingPartnerList nodedefined in a PerProviderSubscription/<X+>/Policy sub-branch of the WFATechnical Committee “Hotspot 2.0 (Release 2) Technical Specification”(“the Hotspot 2.0 specification”). The embodiments are not limited inthis context.

In various embodiments, the HS2.0 Policy sub-branch may compriseSPExclusionList node 514. In some embodiments, SPExclusionList node 514may comprise a list of service set identifiers (SSIDs) that are notpreferred by a home service provider of a UE. In various embodiments,the non-preferred SSIDs may correspond to WLANs that may not beautonomously selected by the UE but may be manually selected by a userof the UE. In some embodiments, SPExclusionList node 514 may be the sameas or similar to an SPExclusionList node defined in aPerProviderSubscription/<X+>/Policy sub-branch of the Hotspot 2.0specification. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, the HS2.0 Policy sub-branch may compriseRequiredProtoPortTuple node 516. In some embodiments,RequiredProtoPortTuple node 516 may comprise required IP protocols andport numbers of one or more operator-supported applications of a UE. Invarious embodiments, RequiredProtoPortTuple node 516 may be the same asor similar to an RequiredProtoPortTuple node defined in aPerProviderSubscription/<X+>/Policy sub-branch of the Hotspot 2.0specification. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In some embodiments, the HS2.0 Policy sub-branch may compriseMinBackhaulThreshold node 518. In various embodiments,MinBackhaulThreshold node 518 may comprise a policy specifying a minimumavailable backhaul threshold for application in selecting a WLAN. Insome embodiments, MinBackhaulThreshold node 518 may be the same as orsimilar to a MinBackhaulThreshold node defined in aPerProviderSubscription/<X+>/Policy sub-branch of the Hotspot 2.0specification. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, the HS2.0 Policy sub-branch may compriseMaxBSSLoadValue leaf 520. In some embodiments, MaxBSSLoadValue leaf 520may comprise a policy specifying a maximum basic service set (BSS) loadfor application in selecting a WLAN. In various embodiments, the policyspecified by MaxBSSLoadValue leaf 520 may apply only in the presence ofa UE's home network. In some embodiments, MaxBSSLoadValue leaf 520 maybe the same as or similar to an MaxBSSLoadValue leaf defined in aPerProviderSubscription/<X+>/Policy sub-branch of the Hotspot 2.0specification. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, HomeSP node 510 may define a HomeSP sub-branchthat comprises a Realm node 522, an FQDN node 524, an OtherHomePartnersnode 526, and a NetworkID node 528. It is worthy of note that in someembodiments, the HomeSP sub-branch may comprise other nodes and/orleaves. Additionally or alternatively, in various embodiments, theHomeSP sub-branch may not comprise one or more of Realm node 522, FQDNnode 524, OtherHomePartners node 526, and NetworkID node 528. Further,in some embodiments, management object branch 500 may not compriseHomeSP node 510, and thus may not comprise an HomeSP sub-branch. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, the HomeSP sub-branch may comprise Realm node522. In some embodiments, Realm node 522 may comprise informationidentifying a realm of a home service provider. In various embodiments,whether a UE is expected to be able to successfully authenticate to aWLAN may be determined by comparing a realm identified via Realm node522 with a realm returned in a Hotspot 2.0 network access identifier(NAI) realm access network query protocol (ANQP) element. In someembodiments, Realm node 522 may be the same as or similar to a Realmnode defined in the Hotspot 2.0 specification. In various embodiments,the HomeSP sub-branch may comprise FQDN node 524. In some embodiments,FQDN node 524 may comprise information identifying an FQDN of a homeservice provider. In various embodiments, FQDN node 524 may be the sameas or similar to an FQDN node defined in the Hotspot 2.0 specification.The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In some embodiments, the HomeSP sub-branch may compriseOtherHomePartners node 526. In various embodiments, OtherHomePartnersnode 526 may comprise a list of home service provider partners that arehome hotspot operators of a UE. In some embodiments, a UE may recognizeFQDNs corresponding to such home service provider partners as beingassociated with the home service provider. In various embodiments,OtherHomePartners node 526 may be the same as or similar to anOtherHomePartners node defined in the Hotspot 2.0 specification. In someembodiments, the HomeSP sub-branch may comprise NetworkID node 528. Invarious embodiments, NetworkID node 528 may comprise informationspecifying an {SSID, homogeneous extended SSID (HESSID)} dupleidentifying a home service provider WLAN. In some embodiments, NetworkIDnode 528 may be the same as or similar to a NetworkID node defined inthe Hotspot 2.0 specification. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

In various embodiments, one or more Hotspot 2.0 MO parameters, nodes,branches, and/or leaves may be excluded from ANDSF management object 224and/or WLANSP branch 226 of FIG. 2, management object 300 of FIG. 3,and/or management object branch 500 of FIG. 5. For example, because 3GPPmobile devices typically support subscription to a single home operatorvia subscriber identity module (SIM) or universal SIM (USIM), portionsof the Hotspot 2.0 MO that pertain to scenarios involving multiplesubscriptions may not be relevant for WLAN selection by a UE. Thus, insome embodiments, one or more such portions of the Hotspot 2.0 MO may beexcluded from ANDSF management object 224 and/or WLANSP branch 226 ofFIG. 2, management object 300 of FIG. 3, and/or management object branch500 of FIG. 5. In an example embodiment, ANDSF management object 224and/or WLANSP branch 226 of FIG. 2, management object 300 of FIG. 3,and/or management object branch 500 of FIG. 5 may excludeSubscriptionPriority, Subscription Remediation, AAAServerTrustRoot,SubscriptionUpdate, SubscriptionParameters, Credential, and/or Extensionbranches of the Hotspot 2.0 MO. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

Returning to FIG. 2, in various embodiments, in response to accessnetwork information request 210, communications component 206 may beoperative to send an access network information response 230. In someembodiments, access network information response 230 may comprise accessnetwork information 218 generated by ANDSF component 208 using ANDSFmanagement object 224. In various embodiments, some or all of the accessnetwork information 218 in access network information response 230 maycomprise access network information generated based on policies, rules,values, and/or other parameters specified in WLANSP branch 226. In someembodiments, some or all of that access network information 218 maycomprise access network information generated based on HotSpot 2.0 MOnodes 228. In various embodiments, the access network information 218that communications component 206 includes in access network informationresponse 230 may comprise the available network information 220 and/orthe mobility policy information 222. The embodiments are not limited inthis context.

In some embodiments, communications component 206 may be operative tosend access network information response 230 to UE 250 via S14 interfaceconnection 212. In various embodiments, UE 250 may be operative to useaccess network information 218 received in access network informationresponse 230 to select an access network via which to obtainconnectivity to a PDN such as the Internet. For example, in someembodiments in which UE 250 is located within a region in which coverageof an E-UTRAN overlaps with coverage of a Wi-Fi access network, UE 250may be operative to use access network information 218 received inaccess network information response 230 to determine whether to obtainInternet connectivity via the E-UTRAN or to obtain Internet connectivityvia the Wi-Fi access network. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 600 such as may berepresentative of UE 102 of FIG. 1 and/or UE 250 of FIG. 2 in variousembodiments. As shown in FIG. 6, apparatus 600 comprises multipleelements including a processor circuit 602, a memory unit 604, and acommunications component 606. The embodiments, however, are not limitedto the type, number, or arrangement of elements shown in this figure.

In some embodiments, apparatus 600 may comprise processor circuit 602.Processor circuit 602 may be implemented using any processor or logicdevice. Examples of processor circuit 602 may include, withoutlimitation, any of the examples previously presented with respect toprocessor circuit 202 of FIG. 2. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

In various embodiments, apparatus 600 may comprise or be arranged tocommunicatively couple with a memory unit 604. Memory unit 604 may beimplemented using any machine-readable or computer-readable mediacapable of storing data, including both volatile and non-volatilememory. Examples of memory unit 604 may include, without limitation, anyof the examples previously presented with respect to memory unit 204 ofFIG. 2. It is worthy of note that some portion or all of memory unit 604may be included on the same integrated circuit as processor circuit 602,or alternatively some portion or all of memory unit 604 may be disposedon an integrated circuit or other medium, for example a hard disk drive,that is external to the integrated circuit of processor circuit 602.Although memory unit 604 is comprised within apparatus 600 in FIG. 6,memory unit 604 may be external to apparatus 600 in some embodiments.The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, apparatus 600 may comprise a communicationscomponent 606. Communications component 606 may comprise logic,circuitry, and/or instructions operative to send messages to one or moreremote devices and/or to receive messages from one or more remotedevices. In some embodiments, communications component 606 may beoperative to send and/or receive messages over one or more wiredconnections, one or more wireless connections, or a combination of both.In various embodiments, communications component 606 may additionallycomprise logic, circuitry, and/or instructions operative to performvarious operations in support of such communications. Examples of suchoperations may include selection of transmission and/or receptionparameters and/or timing, packet and/or protocol data unit (PDU)construction and/or deconstruction, encoding and/or decoding, errordetection, and/or error correction. The embodiments are not limited tothese examples.

FIG. 6 also illustrates a block diagram of a system 640. System 640 maycomprise any of the aforementioned elements of apparatus 600. System 640may further comprise an RF transceiver 642. RF transceiver 642 maycomprise one or more radios capable of transmitting and receivingsignals using various suitable wireless communications techniques. Suchtechniques may involve communications across one or more wirelessnetworks. Examples of such wireless networks may include, withoutlimitation, any of the examples previously presented with respect to RFtransceiver 242 of FIG. 2. In communicating across such networks, RFtransceiver 642 may operate in accordance with one or more applicablestandards in any version. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

In some embodiments, system 640 may comprise one or more RF antennas644. Examples of RF antenna(s) 644 may include, without limitation, anyof the examples previously presented with respect to RF antenna(s) 244of FIG. 2. In various embodiments, RF transceiver 642 may be operativeto send and/or receive messages and/or data using one or more RFantennas 644. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, system 640 may comprise a display 646. Display646 may comprise any display device capable of displaying informationreceived from processor circuit 602. Examples for display 646 mayinclude a television, a monitor, a projector, and a computer screen. Inone embodiment, for example, display 646 may be implemented by a liquidcrystal display (LCD), light emitting diode (LED) or other type ofsuitable visual interface. Display 646 may comprise, for example, atouch-sensitive display screen (“touchscreen”). In some implementations,display 646 may comprise one or more thin-film transistors (TFT) LCDincluding embedded transistors. The embodiments, however, are notlimited to these examples.

In some embodiments, during operation of apparatus 600 and/or system640, communications component 606 may be operative to send an accessnetwork information request 610 to ANDSF server 660. In variousembodiments, the access network information request 610 may comprise arequest for information that is usable by apparatus 600 and/or system640 to select an access network via which to obtain connectivity to aPDN such as the Internet. In some embodiments, apparatus 600 and/orsystem 640 may comprise a dual-mode UE that is capable of communicatingwith both a 3GPP access network, such as an E-UTRAN, and a non-3GPPaccess network, such as a Wi-Fi access network. In various embodiments,communications component 606 may be operative to send access networkinformation request 610 while apparatus 600 and/or system 640 is locatedin a region of overlapping coverage of multiple access networks, such asa region in which in which coverage of an E-UTRAN overlaps with coverageof a Wi-Fi access network. In some embodiments, apparatus 600 and/orsystem 640 may be operative to communicate with ANDSF server 660 via anIP-layer interface. For example, in various embodiments, apparatus 600and/or system 640 may be operative to communicate with ANDSF server 660over an S14 interface connection 612. In some embodiments,communications component 606 may be operative to send access networkinformation request 610 to ANDSF server 660 via the S14 interfaceconnection 612. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, communications component 606 may be operative toinclude capabilities information 614 in access network informationrequest 610. Capabilities information 614 may comprise informationdescribing wireless network access capabilities of apparatus 600 and/orsystem 640. In some embodiments, capabilities information 614 mayidentify one or more types of wireless access networks and/or accesstechnologies that apparatus 600 and/or system 640 is capable of using.In various embodiments, capabilities information 614 may indicate thatapparatus 600 and/or system 640 is capable of communicating with both a3GPP access network, such as an E-UTRAN, and a non-3GPP access network,such as a Wi-Fi access network. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

In some embodiments, communications component 606 may be operative toinclude location information 616 in access network information request610. Location information 616 may comprise information identifying ordescribing an approximate location of apparatus 600 and/or system 640.In various embodiments, location information 616 may identify anapproximate geographical location of apparatus 600 and/or system 640. Insome embodiments, for example, location information 616 may comprise GPScoordinates for apparatus 600 and/or system 640. In various embodiments,location information 616 may additionally or alternatively comprise acell ID that identifies a cell in which apparatus 600 and/or system 640is currently located. In some embodiments, location information 616 mayadditionally or alternatively comprise a TAI that identifies a trackingarea in which apparatus 600 and/or system 640 is currently located. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, in response to access network informationrequest 610, communications component 606 may be operative to receive anaccess network information response 630. In some embodiments,communications component 606 may be operative to receive access networkinformation response 630 from ANDSF server 660 over S14 interfaceconnection 612. In various embodiments, access network informationresponse 630 may comprise available network information 620. Availablenetwork information 620 may comprise information identifying one or moreaccess networks via which apparatus 600 and/or system 640 may obtain PDNconnectivity. In some embodiments, access network information 618 maycomprise mobility policy information 622. Mobility policy information622 may comprise information identifying, defining, describing, and/orupdating rules and/or preferences to be applied by apparatus 600 and/orsystem 640 in selecting from among access networks identified byavailable network information 620. The embodiments are not limited inthis context.

In various embodiments, access network information response 630 mayinclude one or more parameters of an ANDSF management object, such asANDSF management object 224 of FIG. 2 and/or management object 300 ofFIG. 3. In some embodiments, the ANDSF management object may compriseone or more Hotspot 2.0 MO nodes. In various embodiments, the ANDSFmanagement object may comprise a WLAN selection policy branch, such asWLANSP branch 226 of FIG. 2 and/or management object branch 500 of FIG.5. In some such embodiments, the one or more Hotspot 2.0 MO nodes may becomprised in the WLAN selection policy branch of the ANDSF managementobject. In various embodiments, access network information response 630may include one or more parameters that correspond to Hotspot 2.0 MOnodes within the ANDSF management object. The embodiments are notlimited in this context.

In some embodiments, communications component 606 may be operative toselect an access network for use to obtain connectivity to a PDN such asthe Internet. In various embodiments, communications component 606 maybe operative to select the access network based on access networkinformation response 630. In some embodiments, communications component606 may be operative to select the access network from among one or moreavailable networks identified in available network information 620. Invarious embodiments, communications component 606 may be operative toselect the access network based on one or more rules specified inmobility policy information 622. In some embodiments, communicationscomponent 606 may be operative to select the access network based on oneor more parameters that are contained in access network informationresponse 630 and that correspond to Hotspot 2.0 MO nodes within an ANDSFmanagement object based upon which access network information response630 is generated. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Operations for the above embodiments may be further described withreference to the following figures and accompanying examples. Some ofthe figures may include a logic flow. Although such figures presentedherein may include a particular logic flow, it can be appreciated thatthe logic flow merely provides an example of how the generalfunctionality as described herein can be implemented. Further, the givenlogic flow does not necessarily have to be executed in the orderpresented unless otherwise indicated. In addition, the given logic flowmay be implemented by a hardware element, a software element executed bya processor, or any combination thereof. The embodiments are not limitedin this context.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a logic flow 700, which may berepresentative of the operations executed by one or more embodimentsdescribed herein. For example, logic flow 700 may be representative ofoperations that may be performed by ANDSF server 112 of FIG. 1,apparatus 200 and/or system 240 of FIG. 2, and/or ANDSF server 660 ofFIG. 6 in various embodiments. As shown in logic flow 700, an accessnetwork information request may be received at 702. For example,communications component 206 of FIG. 2 may be operative to receiveaccess network information request 210 from UE 250 over S14 interfaceconnection 212. At 704, access network information may be generatedusing an ANDSF MO that comprises a WLAN selection policy branch andincludes one or more Hotspot 2.0 MO nodes. For example, ANDSF component208 of FIG. 2 may be operative to generate access network information218 using ANDSF management object 224, which may include WLANSP branch226 and HotSpot 2.0 MO nodes 228. At 706, an access network informationresponse may be sent that comprises the access network information. Forexample, communications component 206 of FIG. 2 may be operative to sendaccess network information response 230 to UE 250 over S14 interfaceconnection 212. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a logic flow 800, which may berepresentative of the operations executed by one or more embodimentsdescribed herein. For example, logic flow 800 may be representative ofoperations that may be performed by UE 102 of FIG. 1, UE 250 of FIG. 2,and/or apparatus 600 and/or system 640 of FIG. 6 in some embodiments. Asshown in logic flow 800, an access network information request may besent at 802. For example, communications component 606 of FIG. 6 may beoperative to send access network information request 610 to ANDSF server660 over S14 interface connection 612. At 804, access networkinformation may be received that is generated using an ANDSF MOcomprising a WLANSP branch that includes one or more Hotspot 2.0 MOnodes. For example, communications component 606 of FIG. 6 may beoperative to receive an access network information response 630containing available network information 620 and/or mobility policyinformation 622 generated based on an ANDSF MO that comprises a WLANSPbranch including one or more Hotspot 2.0 nodes. At 806, an accessnetwork may be selected based on the access network information. Forexample, communications component 606 of FIG. 6 may be operative toselect an access network based on access network information in accessnetwork information response 630. The embodiments are not limited tothese examples.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a storage medium 900. Storage medium900 may comprise any non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ormachine-readable storage medium, such as an optical, magnetic orsemiconductor storage medium. In various embodiments, storage medium 900may comprise an article of manufacture. In some embodiments, storagemedium 900 may store computer-executable instructions, such ascomputer-executable instructions to implement one or more of logic flow700 of FIG. 7 and logic flow 800 of FIG. 8. Examples of acomputer-readable storage medium or machine-readable storage medium mayinclude any tangible media capable of storing electronic data, includingvolatile memory or non-volatile memory, removable or non-removablememory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writeable or re-writeablememory, and so forth. Examples of computer-executable instructions mayinclude any suitable type of code, such as source code, compiled code,interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code,object-oriented code, visual code, and the like. The embodiments are notlimited in this context.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of a communications device 1000 thatmay implement one or more of apparatus 200 and/or system 240 of FIG. 2,apparatus 600 and/or system 640 of FIG. 6, logic flow 700 of FIG. 7,logic flow 800 of FIG. 8, and storage medium 900 of FIG. 9. In variousembodiments, device 1000 may comprise a logic circuit 1028. The logiccircuit 1028 may include physical circuits to perform operationsdescribed for one or more of apparatus 200 and/or system 240 of FIG. 2,apparatus 600 and/or system 640 of FIG. 6, logic flow 700 of FIG. 7, andlogic flow 800 of FIG. 8, for example. As shown in FIG. 10, device 1000may include a radio interface 1010, baseband circuitry 1020, andcomputing platform 1030, although the embodiments are not limited tothis configuration.

The device 1000 may implement some or all of the structure and/oroperations for one or more of apparatus 200 and/or system 240 of FIG. 2,apparatus 600 and/or system 640 of FIG. 6, logic flow 700 of FIG. 7,logic flow 800 of FIG. 8, storage medium 900 of FIG. 9, and logiccircuit 1028 in a single computing entity, such as entirely within asingle device. Alternatively, the device 1000 may distribute portions ofthe structure and/or operations for one or more of apparatus 200 and/orsystem 240 of FIG. 2, apparatus 600 and/or system 640 of FIG. 6, logicflow 700 of FIG. 7, logic flow 800 of FIG. 8, storage medium 900 of FIG.9, and logic circuit 1028 across multiple computing entities using adistributed system architecture, such as a client-server architecture, a3-tier architecture, an N-tier architecture, a tightly-coupled orclustered architecture, a peer-to-peer architecture, a master-slavearchitecture, a shared database architecture, and other types ofdistributed systems. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In one embodiment, radio interface 1010 may include a component orcombination of components adapted for transmitting and/or receivingsingle carrier or multi-carrier modulated signals (e.g., includingcomplementary code keying (CCK) and/or orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) symbols) although the embodiments are not limited toany specific over-the-air interface or modulation scheme. Radiointerface 1010 may include, for example, a receiver 1012, a frequencysynthesizer 1014, and/or a transmitter 1016. Radio interface 1010 mayinclude bias controls, a crystal oscillator and/or one or more antennas1018-f. In another embodiment, radio interface 1010 may use externalvoltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), surface acoustic wave filters,intermediate frequency (IF) filters and/or RF filters, as desired. Dueto the variety of potential RF interface designs an expansivedescription thereof is omitted.

Baseband circuitry 1020 may communicate with radio interface 1010 toprocess receive and/or transmit signals and may include, for example, ananalog-to-digital converter 1022 for down converting received signals, adigital-to-analog converter 1024 for up converting signals fortransmission. Further, baseband circuitry 1020 may include a baseband orphysical layer (PHY) processing circuit 1026 for PHY link layerprocessing of respective receive/transmit signals. Baseband circuitry1020 may include, for example, a medium access control (MAC) processingcircuit 1027 for MAC/data link layer processing. Baseband circuitry 1020may include a memory controller 1032 for communicating with MACprocessing circuit 1027 and/or a computing platform 1030, for example,via one or more interfaces 1034.

In some embodiments, PHY processing circuit 1026 may include a frameconstruction and/or detection module, in combination with additionalcircuitry such as a buffer memory, to construct and/or deconstructcommunication frames. Alternatively or in addition, MAC processingcircuit 1027 may share processing for certain of these functions orperform these processes independent of PHY processing circuit 1026. Insome embodiments, MAC and PHY processing may be integrated into a singlecircuit.

The computing platform 1030 may provide computing functionality for thedevice 1000. As shown, the computing platform 1030 may include aprocessing component 1040. In addition to, or alternatively of, thebaseband circuitry 1020, the device 1000 may execute processingoperations or logic for one or more of apparatus 200 and/or system 240of FIG. 2, apparatus 600 and/or system 640 of FIG. 6, logic flow 700 ofFIG. 7, logic flow 800 of FIG. 8, storage medium 900 of FIG. 9, andlogic circuit 1028 using the processing component 1040. The processingcomponent 1040 (and/or PHY 1026 and/or MAC 1027) may comprise varioushardware elements, software elements, or a combination of both. Examplesof hardware elements may include devices, logic devices, components,processors, microprocessors, circuits, processor circuits, circuitelements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and soforth), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits(ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors(DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), memory units, logic gates,registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and soforth. Examples of software elements may include software components,programs, applications, computer programs, application programs, systemprograms, software development programs, machine programs, operatingsystem software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines,subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces,application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code,computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values,symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodimentis implemented using hardware elements and/or software elements may varyin accordance with any number of factors, such as desired computationalrate, power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input datarates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and otherdesign or performance constraints, as desired for a givenimplementation.

The computing platform 1030 may further include other platformcomponents 1050. Other platform components 1050 include common computingelements, such as one or more processors, multi-core processors,co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals,interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards,multimedia input/output (I/O) components (e.g., digital displays), powersupplies, and so forth. Examples of memory units may include withoutlimitation various types of computer readable and machine readablestorage media in the form of one or more higher speed memory units, suchas read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM(DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), staticRAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymermemory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase changeor ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as RedundantArray of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state memory devices(e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any other type ofstorage media suitable for storing information.

Device 1000 may be, for example, an ultra-mobile device, a mobiledevice, a fixed device, a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile computing device, a smart phone, atelephone, a digital telephone, a cellular telephone, user equipment,eBook readers, a handset, a one-way pager, a two-way pager, a messagingdevice, a computer, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, alaptop computer, a notebook computer, a netbook computer, a handheldcomputer, a tablet computer, a server, a server array or server farm, aweb server, a network server, an Internet server, a work station, amini-computer, a main frame computer, a supercomputer, a networkappliance, a web appliance, a distributed computing system,multiprocessor systems, processor-based systems, consumer electronics,programmable consumer electronics, game devices, display, television,digital television, set top box, wireless access point, base station,node B, subscriber station, mobile subscriber center, radio networkcontroller, router, hub, gateway, bridge, switch, machine, orcombination thereof. Accordingly, functions and/or specificconfigurations of device 1000 described herein, may be included oromitted in various embodiments of device 1000, as suitably desired.

Embodiments of device 1000 may be implemented using single input singleoutput (SISO) architectures. However, certain implementations mayinclude multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 1018-f) for transmissionand/or reception using adaptive antenna techniques for beamforming orspatial division multiple access (SDMA) and/or using MIMO communicationtechniques.

The components and features of device 1000 may be implemented using anycombination of discrete circuitry, application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), logic gates and/or single chip architectures. Further,the features of device 1000 may be implemented using microcontrollers,programmable logic arrays and/or microprocessors or any combination ofthe foregoing where suitably appropriate. It is noted that hardware,firmware and/or software elements may be collectively or individuallyreferred to herein as “logic” or “circuit.”

It should be appreciated that the exemplary device 1000 shown in theblock diagram of FIG. 10 may represent one functionally descriptiveexample of many potential implementations. Accordingly, division,omission or inclusion of block functions depicted in the accompanyingfigures does not infer that the hardware components, circuits, softwareand/or elements for implementing these functions would be necessarily bedivided, omitted, or included in embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of a broadband wireless access system1100. As shown in FIG. 11, broadband wireless access system 1100 may bean internet protocol (IP) type network comprising an internet 1110 typenetwork or the like that is capable of supporting mobile wireless accessand/or fixed wireless access to internet 1110. In one or moreembodiments, broadband wireless access system 1100 may comprise any typeof orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) based wirelessnetwork, such as a system compliant with one or more of the 3GPP LTESpecifications and/or IEEE 802.16 Standards, and the scope of theclaimed subject matter is not limited in these respects.

In the exemplary broadband wireless access system 1100, radio accessnetworks (RANs) 1112 and 1118 are capable of coupling with evolved nodeBs (eNBs) 1114 and 1120, respectively, to provide wireless communicationbetween one or more fixed devices 1116 and internet 1110 and/or betweenor one or more mobile devices 1122 and Internet 1110. One example of afixed device 1116 and a mobile device 1122 is device 1000 of FIG. 10,with the fixed device 1116 comprising a stationary version of device1000 and the mobile device 1122 comprising a mobile version of device1000. RANs 1112 and 1118 may implement profiles that are capable ofdefining the mapping of network functions to one or more physicalentities on broadband wireless access system 1100. eNBs 1114 and 1120may comprise radio equipment to provide RF communication with fixeddevice 1116 and/or mobile device 1122, such as described with referenceto device 1000, and may comprise, for example, the PHY and MAC layerequipment in compliance with a 3GPP LTE Specification or an IEEE 802.16Standard. eNBs 1114 and 1120 may further comprise an IP backplane tocouple to Internet 1110 via RANs 1112 and 1118, respectively, althoughthe scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in theserespects.

Broadband wireless access system 1100 may further comprise a visitedcore network (CN) 1124 and/or a home CN 1126, each of which may becapable of providing one or more network functions including but notlimited to proxy and/or relay type functions, for exampleauthentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) functions, dynamichost configuration protocol (DHCP) functions, or domain name servicecontrols or the like, domain gateways such as public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN) gateways or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) gateways,and/or internet protocol (IP) type server functions, or the like.However, these are merely example of the types of functions that arecapable of being provided by visited CN 1124 and/or home CN 1126, andthe scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in theserespects. Visited CN 1124 may be referred to as a visited CN in the casewhere visited CN 1124 is not part of the regular service provider offixed device 1116 or mobile device 1122, for example where fixed device1116 or mobile device 1122 is roaming away from its respective home CN1126, or where broadband wireless access system 1100 is part of theregular service provider of fixed device 1116 or mobile device 1122 butwhere broadband wireless access system 1100 may be in another locationor state that is not the main or home location of fixed device 1116 ormobile device 1122. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Fixed device 1116 may be located anywhere within range of one or both ofeNBs 1114 and 1120, such as in or near a home or business to providehome or business customer broadband access to Internet 1110 via eNBs1114 and 1120 and RANs 1112 and 1118, respectively, and home CN 1126. Itis worthy of note that although fixed device 1116 is generally disposedin a stationary location, it may be moved to different locations asneeded. Mobile device 1122 may be utilized at one or more locations ifmobile device 1122 is within range of one or both of eNBs 1114 and 1120,for example. In accordance with one or more embodiments, operationsupport system (OSS) 1128 may be part of broadband wireless accesssystem 1100 to provide management functions for broadband wirelessaccess system 1100 and to provide interfaces between functional entitiesof broadband wireless access system 1100. Broadband wireless accesssystem 1100 of FIG. 11 is merely one type of wireless network showing acertain number of the components of broadband wireless access system1100, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited inthese respects.

Various embodiments may be implemented using hardware elements, softwareelements, or a combination of both. Examples of hardware elements mayinclude processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g.,transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integratedcircuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmablelogic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmablegate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips,microchips, chip sets, and so forth. Examples of software may includesoftware components, programs, applications, computer programs,application programs, system programs, machine programs, operatingsystem software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines,subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces,application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code,computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values,symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodimentis implemented using hardware elements and/or software elements may varyin accordance with any number of factors, such as desired computationalrate, power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input datarates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and otherdesign or performance constraints.

One or more aspects of at least one embodiment may be implemented byrepresentative instructions stored on a machine-readable medium whichrepresents various logic within the processor, which when read by amachine causes the machine to fabricate logic to perform the techniquesdescribed herein. Such representations, known as “IP cores” may bestored on a tangible, machine readable medium and supplied to variouscustomers or manufacturing facilities to load into the fabricationmachines that actually make the logic or processor. Some embodiments maybe implemented, for example, using a machine-readable medium or articlewhich may store an instruction or a set of instructions that, ifexecuted by a machine, may cause the machine to perform a method and/oroperations in accordance with the embodiments. Such a machine mayinclude, for example, any suitable processing platform, computingplatform, computing device, processing device, computing system,processing system, computer, processor, or the like, and may beimplemented using any suitable combination of hardware and/or software.The machine-readable medium or article may include, for example, anysuitable type of memory unit, memory device, memory article, memorymedium, storage device, storage article, storage medium and/or storageunit, for example, memory, removable or non-removable media, erasable ornon-erasable media, writeable or re-writeable media, digital or analogmedia, hard disk, floppy disk, Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM),Compact Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disk Rewriteable (CD-RW),optical disk, magnetic media, magneto-optical media, removable memorycards or disks, various types of Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), a tape, acassette, or the like. The instructions may include any suitable type ofcode, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executablecode, static code, dynamic code, encrypted code, and the like,implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented,visual, compiled and/or interpreted programming language.

The following examples pertain to further embodiments:

Example 1 is an evolved packet core (EPC) node, comprising a processorcircuit to implement an access network discovery and selection function(ANDSF) according to a management object that includes a branchcomprising one or more policies to select a wireless local area network(WLAN), the processing circuitry to receive capabilities information andlocation information for a user equipment (UE) and determine accessnetwork information for the UE based on the capabilities information andthe location information.

In Example 2, the management object of Example 1 may optionally comprisean ANDSF management object.

In Example 3, the branch of any of Examples 1 to 2 may optionallycomprise one or more nodes of a Hotspot management object.

In Example 4, the Hotspot management object of Example 3 may optionallycomprise a Hotspot 2.0 management object.

In Example 5, the branch of any of Examples 1 to 4 may optionallycomprise a WLAN selection policy (WLANSP) branch of an ANDSF managementobject.

In Example 6, the processing circuitry of any of Examples 1 to 5 mayoptionally send the access network information to the UE over an S14interface connection.

In Example 7, the access network information of any of Examples 1 to 6may optionally identify one or more available access networks for theUE.

In Example 8, the access network information of any of Examples 1 to 7may optionally identify one or more policies for selecting amongavailable access networks.

Example 9 is a system, comprising an EPC node according to any ofExamples 1 to 8, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, and one or more RFantennas.

Example 10 is an access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF)server, comprising logic, at least a portion of which is in hardware,the logic to receive an access network information request, generateaccess network information using an ANDSF management object (MO)comprising a wireless local area network (WLAN) selection policy branch,and send an access network information response comprising the accessnetwork information, the ANDSF MO including one or more nodes of aHotspot 2.0 MO.

In Example 11, the one or more nodes of the Hotspot 2.0 MO of Example 10may optionally be comprised in the WLAN selection policy branch of theANDSF MO.

In Example 12, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 10 to 11 may optionallyinclude a PreferredRoamingPartnerList node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, andthe PreferredRoamingPartnerList node may optionally comprise a list ofpreferred roaming partners for a user equipment (UE).

In Example 13, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 10 to 12 may optionallyinclude a RequiredProtoPortTuple node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theRequiredProtoPortTuple node may optionally comprise required internetprotocol (IP) protocols and port numbers of one or moreoperator-supported applications of a user equipment (UE).

In Example 14, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 10 to 13 may optionallyinclude an SPExclusionList node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theSPExclusionList node may optionally comprise a list of service setidentifiers (SSIDs) that are not preferred by a home service provider ofa user equipment (UE).

In Example 15, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 10 to 14 may optionallyinclude a MinBackhaulThreshold node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theMinBackhaulThreshold node may optionally comprise a policy specifying aminimum available backhaul threshold for application to a selection of aWLAN.

In Example 16, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 10 to 15 may optionallycomprise a MaximumBSSLoadValue leaf of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theMaximumBSSLoadValue leaf may optionally comprise a policy specifying amaximum basic service set (BSS) load for application to a selection of aWLAN.

In Example 17, the logic of any of Examples 10 to 16 may optionally sendthe access network information response over an S14 interfaceconnection.

Example 18 is a system, comprising an ANDSF server according to any ofExamples 10 to 17, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, and one or moreRF antennas.

Example 19 is an access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF)node, comprising processing circuitry to receive a request for accessnetwork information, the request comprising capabilities information andlocation information for a user equipment (UE), determine access networkinformation for the UE based on an ANDSF management object (MO) thatcomprises a plurality of Hotspot 2.0 MO nodes, the ANDSF MO excludingone or more other nodes of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and send a response tothe request over an S14 interface connection, the response comprisingthe access network information.

In Example 20, the ANDSF MO of Example 19 may optionally comprise awireless local area network selection policy (WLANSP) branch.

In Example 21, the WLANSP branch of any of Examples 19 to 20 mayoptionally comprise at least one of the plurality of Hotspot 2.0 MOnodes.

In Example 22, the access network information of any of Examples 19 to21 may optionally comprise one or more parameters determined based on aRequiredProtoPortTuple node comprised among the plurality of Hotspot 2.0MO nodes.

In Example 23, the access network information of any of Examples 19 to22 may optionally comprise one or more parameters determined based on aSPExclusionList node comprised among the plurality of Hotspot 2.0 MOnodes.

In Example 24, the access network information of any of Examples 19 to23 may optionally comprise one or more parameters determined based on aPreferredRoamingPartnerList node comprised among the plurality ofHotspot 2.0 MO nodes.

In Example 25, the access network information of any of Examples 19 to24 may optionally comprise available network information identifying oneor more access networks.

In Example 26, the access network information of any of Examples 19 to25 may optionally comprise mobility policy information identifying oneor more policies for selecting among available access networks.

Example 27 is a system, comprising an ANDSF node according to any ofExamples 19 to 26, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, and one or moreRF antennas.

Example 28 is user equipment (UE), comprising a radio frequency (RF)transceiver, and processing circuitry operative on the RF transceiver tosend an access network information request and receive access networkinformation in response to the access network information request, theaccess network information comprising available network informationgenerated using an ANDSF management object (MO) comprising a wirelesslocal area network selection policy (WLANSP) branch that includes atleast one node of a Hotspot 2.0 MO and omits at least one other node ofthe Hotspot 2.0 MO.

In Example 29, the ANDSF MO of Example 28 may optionally comprise aninter-system routing policy (ISRP) branch that is distinct from theWLANSP branch.

In Example 30, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 28 to 29 may optionallyexclude a SubscriptionPriority branch of the Hotspot 2.0 MO.

In Example 31, the access network information of any of Examples 28 to30 may optionally comprise at least one mobility policy for the UE.

In Example 32, the processing circuitry of Example 31 may optionallyselect an access network based on the available network information andthe at least one mobility policy.

In Example 33, the processing circuitry of any of Examples 28 to 32 mayoptionally be operative on the RF transceiver to receive the accessnetwork information from an ANDSF server via an S14 interface.

In Example 34, the WLANSP branch of any of Examples 28 to 33 mayoptionally include a Hotspot 2.0 MO node that comprises a list ofnon-preferred service set identifiers (SSIDs).

In Example 35, the WLANSP branch of any of Examples 28 to 34 mayoptionally include a Hotspot 2.0 MO node that comprises a list ofpreferred roaming partners for the UE.

Example 36 is a system, comprising a UE according to any of Examples 28to 35, a display, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, and one or more RFantennas.

Example 37 is at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium comprising a set of wireless communication instructions that, inresponse to execution on a computing device, cause the computing deviceto receive an access network information request, generate accessnetwork information using an ANDSF management object (MO) comprising awireless local area network (WLAN) selection policy branch, and send anaccess network information response comprising the access networkinformation, the ANDSF MO including one or more nodes of a Hotspot 2.0MO.

In Example 38, the one or more nodes of the Hotspot 2.0 MO of Example 37may optionally be comprised in the WLAN selection policy branch of theANDSF MO.

In Example 39, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 37 to 38 may optionallyinclude a PreferredRoamingPartnerList node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, andthe PreferredRoamingPartnerList node may optionally comprise a list ofpreferred roaming partners for a user equipment (UE).

In Example 40, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 37 to 39 may optionallyinclude a RequiredProtoPortTuple node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theRequiredProtoPortTuple node may optionally comprise required internetprotocol (IP) protocols and port numbers of one or moreoperator-supported applications of a user equipment (UE).

In Example 41, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 37 to 40 may optionallyinclude an SPExclusionList node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theSPExclusionList node may optionally comprise a list of service setidentifiers (SSIDs) that are not preferred by a home service provider ofa user equipment (UE).

In Example 42, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 37 to 41 may optionallyinclude a MinBackhaulThreshold node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theMinBackhaulThreshold node may optionally comprise a policy specifying aminimum available backhaul threshold for application to a selection of aWLAN.

In Example 43, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 37 to 42 may optionallycomprise a MaximumBSSLoadValue leaf of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theMaximumBSSLoadValue leaf may optionally comprise a policy specifying amaximum basic service set (BSS) load for application to a selection of aWLAN.

In Example 44, the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 37 to 43 may optionally comprise wirelesscommunication instructions that, in response to being executed on thecomputing device, cause the computing device to send the access networkinformation response over an S14 interface connection.

Example 45 is a wireless communication method, comprising sending, by auser equipment (UE), an access network information request, andreceiving access network information in response to the access networkinformation request, the access network information comprising availablenetwork information generated using an ANDSF management object (MO)comprising a wireless local area network selection policy (WLANSP)branch that includes at least one node of a Hotspot 2.0 MO and omits atleast one other node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO.

In Example 46, the ANDSF MO of Example 45 may optionally comprise aninter-system routing policy (ISRP) branch that is distinct from theWLANSP branch.

In Example 47, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 45 to 46 may optionallyexclude a SubscriptionPriority branch of the Hotspot 2.0 MO.

In Example 48, the access network information of any of Examples 45 to47 may optionally comprise at least one mobility policy for the UE.

In Example 49, the wireless communication method of Example 48 mayoptionally comprise selecting an access network based on the availablenetwork information and the at least one mobility policy.

In Example 50, the wireless communication method of any of Examples 45to 49 may optionally comprise receiving the access network informationfrom an ANDSF server via an S14 interface.

In Example 51, the WLANSP branch of any of Examples 45 to 50 mayoptionally include a Hotspot 2.0 MO node that comprises a list ofnon-preferred service set identifiers (SSIDs).

In Example 52, the WLANSP branch of any of Examples 45 to 51 mayoptionally include a Hotspot 2.0 MO node that comprises a list ofpreferred roaming partners for the UE.

Example 53 is at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium comprising a set of instructions that, in response to beingexecuted on a computing device, cause the computing device to perform awireless communication method according to any of Examples 45 to 52.

Example 54 is an apparatus, comprising means for performing a wirelesscommunication method according to any of Examples 45 to 52.

Example 55 is a system, comprising an apparatus according to Example 54,a display, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, and one or more RFantennas.

Example 56 is at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium comprising a set of wireless communication instructions that, inresponse to being executed on a computing device, cause the computingdevice to implement an access network discovery and selection function(ANDSF) according to a management object that includes a branchcomprising one or more policies to select a wireless local area network(WLAN), receive capabilities information and location information for auser equipment (UE), and determine access network information for the UEbased on the capabilities information and the location information.

In Example 57, the management object of Example 56 may optionallycomprise an ANDSF management object.

In Example 58, the branch of any one of Examples 56 to 57 may optionallycomprise one or more nodes of a Hotspot management object.

In Example 59, the Hotspot management object of Example 58 mayoptionally comprise a Hotspot 2.0 management object.

In Example 60, the branch of any of Examples 56 to 59 may optionallycomprise a WLAN selection policy (WLANSP) branch of an ANDSF managementobject.

In Example 61, the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 56 to 60 may optionally comprise wirelesscommunication instructions that, in response to being executed on thecomputing device, cause the computing device to send the access networkinformation to the UE over an S14 interface connection.

In Example 62, the access network information of any of Examples 56 to61 may optionally identify one or more available access networks for theUE.

In Example 63, the access network information of any of Examples 56 to62 may optionally identify one or more policies for selecting amongavailable access networks.

Example 64 is a wireless communication method, comprising receiving anaccess network information request, generating, by a processor circuit,access network information using an ANDSF management object (MO)comprising a wireless local area network (WLAN) selection policy branch,and sending an access network information response comprising the accessnetwork information, the ANDSF MO including one or more nodes of aHotspot 2.0 MO.

In Example 65, the one or more nodes of the Hotspot 2.0 MO of Example 64may optionally be comprised in the WLAN selection policy branch of theANDSF MO.

In Example 66, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 64 to 65 may optionallyinclude a PreferredRoamingPartnerList node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, andthe PreferredRoamingPartnerList node may optionally comprise a list ofpreferred roaming partners for a user equipment (UE).

In Example 67, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 64 to 66 may optionallyinclude a RequiredProtoPortTuple node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theRequiredProtoPortTuple node may optionally comprise required internetprotocol (IP) protocols and port numbers of one or moreoperator-supported applications of a user equipment (UE).

In Example 68, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 64 to 67 may optionallyinclude an SPExclusionList node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theSPExclusionList node may optionally comprise a list of service setidentifiers (SSIDs) that are not preferred by a home service provider ofa user equipment (UE).

In Example 69, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 64 to 68 may optionallyinclude a MinBackhaulThreshold node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theMinBackhaulThreshold node may optionally comprise a policy specifying aminimum available backhaul threshold for application to a selection of aWLAN.

In Example 70, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 64 to 69 may optionallycomprise a MaximumBSSLoadValue leaf of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and theMaximumBSSLoadValue leaf may optionally comprise a policy specifying amaximum basic service set (BSS) load for application to a selection of aWLAN.

In Example 71, the wireless communication method of any of Examples 64to 70 may optionally comprise sending the access network informationresponse over an S14 interface connection.

Example 72 is at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium comprising a set of instructions that, in response to beingexecuted on a computing device, cause the computing device to perform awireless communication method according to any of Examples 64 to 71.

Example 73 is an apparatus, comprising means for performing a wirelesscommunication method according to any of Examples 64 to 71.

Example 74 is a system, comprising an apparatus according to Example 73,a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, and one or more RF antennas.

Example 75 is at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium comprising a set of wireless communication instructions that, inresponse to execution on a computing device, cause the computing deviceto receive a request for access network information, the requestcomprising capabilities information and location information for a userequipment (UE), determine access network information for the UE based onan ANDSF management object (MO) that comprises a plurality of Hotspot2.0 MO nodes, the ANDSF MO excluding one or more other nodes of theHotspot 2.0 MO, and send a response to the request over an S14 interfaceconnection, the response comprising the access network information.

In Example 76, the ANDSF MO of Example 75 may optionally comprise awireless local area network selection policy (WLANSP) branch.

In Example 77, the WLANSP branch of any of Examples 75 to 76 mayoptionally comprise at least one of the plurality of Hotspot 2.0 MOnodes.

In Example 78, the access network information of any of Examples 75 to77 may optionally comprise one or more parameters determined based on aRequiredProtoPortTuple node comprised among the plurality of Hotspot 2.0MO nodes.

In Example 79, the access network information of any of Examples 75 to78 may optionally comprise one or more parameters determined based on aSPExclusionList node comprised among the plurality of Hotspot 2.0 MOnodes.

In Example 80, the access network information of any of Examples 75 to79 may optionally comprise one or more parameters determined based on aPreferredRoamingPartnerList node comprised among the plurality ofHotspot 2.0 MO nodes.

In Example 81, the access network information of any of Examples 75 to80 may optionally comprise available network information identifying oneor more access networks.

In Example 82, the access network information of any of Examples 75 to81 may optionally comprise mobility policy information identifying oneor more policies for selecting among available access networks.

Example 83 is a wireless communication method, comprising implementingan access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) according toa management object that includes a branch comprising one or morepolicies to select a wireless local area network (WLAN), receivingcapabilities information and location information for a user equipment(UE), and determining, by a processor circuit, access networkinformation for the UE based on the capabilities information and thelocation information.

In Example 84, the management object of Example 83 may optionallycomprise an ANDSF management object.

In Example 85, the branch of any of Examples 83 to 84 may optionallycomprise one or more nodes of a Hotspot management object.

In Example 86, the Hotspot management object of Example 85 mayoptionally comprise a Hotspot 2.0 management object.

In Example 87, the branch of any of Examples 83 to 86 may optionallycomprise a WLAN selection policy (WLANSP) branch of an ANDSF managementobject.

In Example 88, the wireless communication method of any of Examples 83to 87 may optionally comprise sending the access network information tothe UE over an S14 interface connection.

In Example 89, the access network information of any of Examples 83 to88 may optionally identify one or more available access networks for theUE.

In Example 90, the access network information of any of Examples 83 to89 may optionally identify one or more policies for selecting amongavailable access networks.

Example 91 is at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium comprising a set of instructions that, in response to beingexecuted on a computing device, cause the computing device to perform awireless communication method according to any of Examples 83 to 90.

Example 92 is an apparatus, comprising means for performing a wirelesscommunication method according to any of Examples 83 to 90.

Example 93 is a system, comprising an apparatus according to Example 92,a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, and one or more RF antennas.

Example 94 is at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium comprising a set of wireless communication instructions that, inresponse to being executed on a user equipment (UE), cause the UE tosend an access network information request, and receive access networkinformation in response to the access network information request, theaccess network information comprising available network informationgenerated using an ANDSF management object (MO) comprising a wirelesslocal area network selection policy (WLANSP) branch that includes atleast one node of a Hotspot 2.0 MO and omits at least one other node ofthe Hotspot 2.0 MO.

In Example 95, the ANDSF MO of Example 94 may optionally comprise aninter-system routing policy (ISRP) branch that is distinct from theWLANSP branch.

In Example 96, the ANDSF MO of any of Examples 94 to 95 may optionallyexclude a SubscriptionPriority branch of the Hotspot 2.0 MO.

In Example 97, the access network information of any of Examples 94 to96 may optionally comprise at least one mobility policy for the UE.

In Example 98, the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 97 may optionally comprise wireless communicationinstructions that, in response to being executed on the UE, cause the UEto select an access network based on the available network informationand the at least one mobility policy.

In Example 99, the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 94 to 98 may optionally comprise wirelesscommunication instructions that, in response to being executed on theUE, cause the UE to receive the access network information from an ANDSFserver via an S14 interface.

In Example 100, the WLANSP branch of any of Examples 94 to 99 mayoptionally include a Hotspot 2.0 MO node that comprises a list ofnon-preferred service set identifiers (SSIDs).

In Example 101, the WLANSP branch of any of Examples 94 to 100 mayoptionally include a Hotspot 2.0 MO node that comprises a list ofpreferred roaming partners for the UE.

Example 102 is a wireless communication method, comprising receiving arequest for access network information, the request comprisingcapabilities information and location information for a user equipment(UE), determining, by a processor circuit, access network informationfor the UE based on an ANDSF management object (MO) that comprises aplurality of Hotspot 2.0 MO nodes, the ANDSF MO excluding one or moreother nodes of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, and sending a response to the requestover an S14 interface connection, the response comprising the accessnetwork information.

In Example 103, the ANDSF MO of Example 102 may optionally comprise awireless local area network selection policy (WLANSP) branch.

In Example 104, the WLANSP branch of any of Examples 102 to 103 mayoptionally comprise at least one of the plurality of Hotspot 2.0 MOnodes.

In Example 105, the access network information of any of Examples 102 to104 may optionally comprise one or more parameters determined based on aRequiredProtoPortTuple node comprised among the plurality of Hotspot 2.0MO nodes.

In Example 106, the access network information of any of Examples 102 to105 may optionally comprise one or more parameters determined based on aSPExclusionList node comprised among the plurality of Hotspot 2.0 MOnodes.

In Example 107, the access network information of any of Examples 102 to106 may optionally comprise one or more parameters determined based on aPreferredRoamingPartnerList node comprised among the plurality ofHotspot 2.0 MO nodes.

In Example 108, the access network information of any of Examples 102 to107 may optionally comprise available network information identifyingone or more access networks.

In Example 109, the access network information of any of Examples 102 to108 may optionally comprise mobility policy information identifying oneor more policies for selecting among available access networks.

Example 110 is at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium comprising a set of instructions that, in response to beingexecuted on a computing device, cause the computing device to perform awireless communication method according to any of Examples 102 to 109.

Example 111 is an apparatus, comprising means for performing a wirelesscommunication method according to any of Examples 102 to 109.

Example 112 is a system, comprising an apparatus according to Example111, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, and one or more RF antennas.

Numerous specific details have been set forth herein to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be understood bythose skilled in the art, however, that the embodiments may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-knownoperations, components, and circuits have not been described in detailso as not to obscure the embodiments. It can be appreciated that thespecific structural and functional details disclosed herein may berepresentative and do not necessarily limit the scope of theembodiments.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. These terms are not intendedas synonyms for each other. For example, some embodiments may bedescribed using the terms “connected” and/or “coupled” to indicate thattwo or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact witheach other. The term “coupled,” however, may also mean that two or moreelements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet stillco-operate or interact with each other.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, it may be appreciated that termssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” or thelike, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computingsystem, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and/ortransforms data represented as physical quantities (e.g., electronic)within the computing system's registers and/or memories into other datasimilarly represented as physical quantities within the computingsystem's memories, registers or other such information storage,transmission or display devices. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

It should be noted that the methods described herein do not have to beexecuted in the order described, or in any particular order. Moreover,various activities described with respect to the methods identifiedherein can be executed in serial or parallel fashion.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments. It is to be understood that the abovedescription has been made in an illustrative fashion, and not arestrictive one. Combinations of the above embodiments, and otherembodiments not specifically described herein will be apparent to thoseof skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Thus, thescope of various embodiments includes any other applications in whichthe above compositions, structures, and methods are used.

It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided tocomply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allowthe reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure.It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used tointerpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, inthe foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various featuresare grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to beinterpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodimentsrequire more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather,as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in lessthan all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the followingclaims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with eachclaim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment. In theappended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as theplain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and“wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,” “second,” and“third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to imposenumerical requirements on their objects.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

1. An evolved packet core (EPC) node, comprising: a processor circuit toimplement an access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF)according to a management object that includes a branch comprising oneor more policies to select a wireless local area network (WLAN), theprocessing circuitry to receive capabilities information and locationinformation for a user equipment (UE) and determine access networkinformation for the UE based on the capabilities information and thelocation information.
 2. The EPC node of claim 1, the management objectcomprising an ANDSF management object.
 3. The EPC node of claim 1, thebranch comprising one or more nodes of a Hotspot management object. 4.The EPC node of claim 3, the Hotspot management object comprising aHotspot 2.0 management object.
 5. The EPC node of claim 1, the branchcomprising a WLAN selection policy (WLANSP) branch of an ANDSFmanagement object.
 6. The EPC node of claim 1, the processing circuitryto send the access network information to the UE over an S14 interfaceconnection.
 7. The EPC node of claim 1, the access network informationidentifying one or more available access networks for the UE.
 8. The EPCnode of claim 1, the access network information identifying one or morepolicies for selecting among available access networks.
 9. The EPC nodeof claim 1, comprising: a radio frequency (RF) transceiver; and one ormore RF antennas.
 10. An access network discovery and selection function(ANDSF) server, comprising: logic, at least a portion of which is inhardware, the logic to receive an access network information request,generate access network information using an ANDSF management object(MO) comprising a wireless local area network (WLAN) selection policybranch, and send an access network information response comprising theaccess network information, the ANDSF MO including one or more nodes ofa Hotspot 2.0 MO.
 11. The ANDSF server of claim 10, the one or morenodes of the Hotspot 2.0 MO comprised in the WLAN selection policybranch of the ANDSF MO.
 12. The ANDSF server of claim 10, the ANDSF MOincluding a PreferredRoamingPartnerList node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, thePreferredRoamingPartnerList node comprising a list of preferred roamingpartners for a user equipment (UE).
 13. The ANDSF server of claim 10,the ANDSF MO including a RequiredProtoPortTuple node of the Hotspot 2.0MO, the RequiredProtoPortTuple node comprising required internetprotocol (IP) protocols and port numbers of one or moreoperator-supported applications of a user equipment (UE).
 14. The ANDSFserver of claim 10, the ANDSF MO including an SPExclusionList node ofthe Hotspot 2.0 MO, the SPExclusionList node comprising a list ofservice set identifiers (SSIDs) that are not preferred by a home serviceprovider of a user equipment (UE).
 15. The ANDSF server of claim 10, theANDSF MO including a MinBackhaulThreshold node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO,the MinBackhaulThreshold node comprising a policy specifying a minimumavailable backhaul threshold for application to a selection of a WLAN.16. The ANDSF server of claim 10, the ANDSF MO comprising aMaximumBSSLoadValue leaf of the Hotspot 2.0 MO, the MaximumBSSLoadValueleaf comprising a policy specifying a maximum basic service set (BSS)load for application to a selection of a WLAN.
 17. The ANDSF server ofclaim 10, the logic to send the access network information response overan S14 interface connection.
 18. At least one non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions that,in response to being executed on a computing device, cause the computingdevice to: receive a request for access network information, the requestcomprising capabilities information and location information for a userequipment (UE); determine access network information for the UE based onan ANDSF management object (MO) that comprises a plurality of Hotspot2.0 MO nodes, the ANDSF MO excluding one or more other nodes of theHotspot 2.0 MO; and send a response to the request over an S14 interfaceconnection, the response comprising the access network information. 19.The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 18, the ANDSF MO comprising a wireless local area networkselection policy (WLANSP) branch.
 20. The at least one non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 18, the WLANSP branchcomprising at least one of the plurality of Hotspot 2.0 MO nodes. 21.The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 18, the access network information comprising one or moreparameters determined based on a RequiredProtoPortTuple node comprisedamong the plurality of Hotspot 2.0 MO nodes.
 22. The at least onenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, the accessnetwork information comprising one or more parameters determined basedon a SPExclusionList node comprised among the plurality of Hotspot 2.0MO nodes.
 23. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 18, the access network information comprising one ormore parameters determined based on a PreferredRoamingPartnerList nodecomprised among the plurality of Hotspot 2.0 MO nodes.
 24. The at leastone non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, theaccess network information comprising available network informationidentifying one or more access networks.
 25. The at least onenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, the accessnetwork information comprising mobility policy information identifyingone or more policies for selecting among available access networks. 26.User equipment (UE), comprising: a radio frequency (RF) transceiver; andprocessing circuitry operative on the RF transceiver to send an accessnetwork information request and receive access network information inresponse to the access network information request, the access networkinformation comprising available network information generated using anANDSF management object (MO) comprising a wireless local area networkselection policy (WLANSP) branch that includes at least one node of aHotspot 2.0 MO and omits at least one other node of the Hotspot 2.0 MO.27. The UE of claim 26, the ANDSF MO comprising an inter-system routingpolicy (ISRP) branch that is distinct from the WLANSP branch.
 28. The UEof claim 26, the ANDSF MO excluding a SubscriptionPriority branch of theHotspot 2.0 MO.
 29. The UE of claim 26, the access network informationcomprising at least one mobility policy for the UE.
 30. The UE of claim29, the processing circuitry to select an access network based on theavailable network information and the at least one mobility policy. 31.The UE of claim 26, the processing circuitry operative on the RFtransceiver to receive the access network information from an ANDSFserver via an S14 interface.
 32. The UE of claim 26, the WLANSP branchincluding a Hotspot 2.0 MO node that comprises a list of non-preferredservice set identifiers (SSIDs).
 33. The UE of claim 26, the WLANSPbranch including a Hotspot 2.0 MO node that comprises a list ofpreferred roaming partners for the UE.